Turret staking

[soundcollage]

I've been lurking here for a while now, and in an effort to somewhat offset the knowledge I've gained I wanted to share a tip for staking turrets.
I love the aesthetic of turret board construction, but making the boards was always tedious for me. I had the hollowed out anvil and punch they sell at mouser and tried it in my drill press and arbor press but found using a hammer seemed to be just as effective, if equally time consuming. So I drilled a hole, with a depth just shy of the height of the turrets off the board, in a piece of scrap hardwood that would fit the anvil snugly.
Well, this seemed to work great for me for a bit, until my punch wandered away somewhere. That's when I happened to see my auto center punch-- you know that sectional brass knurled thing with the springs you should get out before the drill but seldom do.
It works like a dream. two clicks seem to perfectly set the turrets every time. At first I was only using it once but two out of every thirty or so seemed to spin (though still could not be pulled out) in the garolite.
Using this method is 2-3 times faster for me than any other way I've tried.

 

[mjk]

Hi, Thanks!

Keystone makes the "impact staking tool" which is a punch
just like the one you use with their roll forming tip attachments.
You remind me I that need to get one for my next project.

I believe the turrets would work OK with just a center punch
as their edges don't roll over much anyway, but the thread
inserts and eyelets would probably work better with the
keystone roll-forming tips. It's important to get the roll
as well as the expansion in the hole, and too much expansion
can break PC trace connections (not a prob for simple
turret boards)

I have drilled my own anvils also in aluminum and they
work for a while but wear out after (quite) a few turrets.

cheers,

Michael